Do you trade on E-bay, Amazon, GumTree or similar or know someone who does?
Did you know that the tax man has been collecting information from E-bay to identify traders who are not declaring their income?
HMRC have gathered names, ID’s and transactional information and are cross referencing this to self assessment records to identify individuals who should be registered as self employed.
Penalties are greater where HMRC discover the income before you declare it to them, so if you are already a client of Defacto and have been trading in this way but have not yet told us about it let us know as soon as possible – and remember that even if you are not making a profit the income should be declared and the losses recorded.
If you know someone who has been trading through one of these sites and may not have registered for self assessment then please pass on our details and let them know that we can help them to register and prepare their return.
Showing posts with label self employement. Show all posts
Showing posts with label self employement. Show all posts
Monday, 4 August 2014
Tuesday, 1 April 2014
Salaried Members of LLPs
Do you operate your business as an LLP? If you do, you need to be aware of the change in tax treatment of certain LLP members from 6 April 2014. Members who meet all of these conditions will be taxed as employees:
A. works for the LLP as an LLP member and at least 80% of the amounts paid to him for that work are disguised salary;
B. does not have significant influence over the affairs of the whole of the LLP; and
C. is not required to contribute funds to the LLP (a capital contribution), or if he does contribute funds that contribution is less than 25% of his disguised salary for the current tax year.
From the member's perspective the easiest of the conditions to break is C - provide capital to the LLP (aka: partner's loan). Current members of the LLP will have until 6 July 2014 to contribute the required level of capital, but they must make a firm commitment to do this by 6 April 2014. Members who join the LLP on or after 6 April 2014 will have two months in which to raise the required level of capital to break condition C.
If you are caught by these new rules and become a deemed employee of the LLP on 6 April 2014, you will cease being self-employed on 5 April 2014. Depending on the accounts year-end of the LLP, you could be taxed on up to 23 months of profit in 2013/14, subject to any overlap relief. The on-account tax payment you made on 31 January 2014 will almost certainly be incorrect. Talk to us about recalculating your tax payments for 2013/14 and 2014/15.
The LLP business that has members caught by these new rules will have to set up PAYE scheme if it doesn't already have one. We can help you with that.
A. works for the LLP as an LLP member and at least 80% of the amounts paid to him for that work are disguised salary;
B. does not have significant influence over the affairs of the whole of the LLP; and
C. is not required to contribute funds to the LLP (a capital contribution), or if he does contribute funds that contribution is less than 25% of his disguised salary for the current tax year.
From the member's perspective the easiest of the conditions to break is C - provide capital to the LLP (aka: partner's loan). Current members of the LLP will have until 6 July 2014 to contribute the required level of capital, but they must make a firm commitment to do this by 6 April 2014. Members who join the LLP on or after 6 April 2014 will have two months in which to raise the required level of capital to break condition C.
If you are caught by these new rules and become a deemed employee of the LLP on 6 April 2014, you will cease being self-employed on 5 April 2014. Depending on the accounts year-end of the LLP, you could be taxed on up to 23 months of profit in 2013/14, subject to any overlap relief. The on-account tax payment you made on 31 January 2014 will almost certainly be incorrect. Talk to us about recalculating your tax payments for 2013/14 and 2014/15.
The LLP business that has members caught by these new rules will have to set up PAYE scheme if it doesn't already have one. We can help you with that.
Thursday, 6 March 2014
Business Journeys - Sole Traders
A number of self-employed businesses have been waiting for a tax case to be decided which turned on the question of "what is a business journey?" The test case concerned a doctor who was both employed by the NHS and self-employed as a private consultant.
The Upper Tax Tribunal decided that the doctor's self-employed work started when he arrived at his private clinic, so the travel between his home and the clinic was not a business journey. This was in spite of the fact the doctor had an office at his home where he prepared his treatment plans.
So what does this mean for you as self-employed person who travels to various sites to work? The taxman will argue that your work only starts when you reach your customer's site and any business activity performed at your home-office is irrelevant. This would restrict your allowable travel costs to journeys between customers and deny a deduction for travelling from your home to the first customer of the day.
The key is determining where your "place of business" is located, and whether the activity undertaken at the home-office is wholly and exclusively undertaken for the purpose of your business. As ever it will come down to the evidence you can produce.
Can you show that the activities you perform at your home must be performed at that location? For example: contacting suppliers, drawing up quotes, or scrutinising plans. Also can you provide evidence of the time you spend working exclusively on your business at your home, perhaps by records in your business diary?
We can help you record the details the taxman will want to see in order to prove you do start work at home, and not when you reach you first customer of the day.
The Upper Tax Tribunal decided that the doctor's self-employed work started when he arrived at his private clinic, so the travel between his home and the clinic was not a business journey. This was in spite of the fact the doctor had an office at his home where he prepared his treatment plans.
So what does this mean for you as self-employed person who travels to various sites to work? The taxman will argue that your work only starts when you reach your customer's site and any business activity performed at your home-office is irrelevant. This would restrict your allowable travel costs to journeys between customers and deny a deduction for travelling from your home to the first customer of the day.
The key is determining where your "place of business" is located, and whether the activity undertaken at the home-office is wholly and exclusively undertaken for the purpose of your business. As ever it will come down to the evidence you can produce.
Can you show that the activities you perform at your home must be performed at that location? For example: contacting suppliers, drawing up quotes, or scrutinising plans. Also can you provide evidence of the time you spend working exclusively on your business at your home, perhaps by records in your business diary?
We can help you record the details the taxman will want to see in order to prove you do start work at home, and not when you reach you first customer of the day.
Tuesday, 5 March 2013
Self-Employed Travel Expenses
If you are self-employed you may have a number of customers you go to regularly to work at their premises. This could apply to mobile hairdressers, cleaners, gardeners, and even medical professionals who work at private clinics. The miles you drive to reach each of your customers from your business base are used to calculate the amount of travel expenses you claim in your business accounts.
This is all good, but the Taxman has recently argued in a tax case that where the business is based at the person's home, that home-office can't be treated as the starting point for travel when the work is performed almost entirely at customers' properties. The Taxman has particularly challenged travel expenses claimed by doctors who work at private clinics and do not see patients at their home-office. The Taxman has tried to ignore the necessary preparation and report writing work the doctor has to perform at his home-office.
The Taxman has agreed that travel between customers is allowable, so the mobile hairdresser or cleaner who travels to several customers each day should be able to claim the majority of their travel expenses. However, travel from the home-office to say one private clinic and back home again is in question.
This doesn't mean you should stop claiming the cost of travelling to customers, but to head-off any challenge in the future, you should record every business related journey; where it started, number of miles and the reason for the journey - who were you seeing. Using an estimate of your total business mileage for the year is no longer an acceptable method of calculating your travel expenses. You should also record what part of your business you conduct at your home-office, such as preparing estimates or writing reports.
If you are concerned you may be affected, please contact us for advice.
This is all good, but the Taxman has recently argued in a tax case that where the business is based at the person's home, that home-office can't be treated as the starting point for travel when the work is performed almost entirely at customers' properties. The Taxman has particularly challenged travel expenses claimed by doctors who work at private clinics and do not see patients at their home-office. The Taxman has tried to ignore the necessary preparation and report writing work the doctor has to perform at his home-office.
The Taxman has agreed that travel between customers is allowable, so the mobile hairdresser or cleaner who travels to several customers each day should be able to claim the majority of their travel expenses. However, travel from the home-office to say one private clinic and back home again is in question.
This doesn't mean you should stop claiming the cost of travelling to customers, but to head-off any challenge in the future, you should record every business related journey; where it started, number of miles and the reason for the journey - who were you seeing. Using an estimate of your total business mileage for the year is no longer an acceptable method of calculating your travel expenses. You should also record what part of your business you conduct at your home-office, such as preparing estimates or writing reports.
If you are concerned you may be affected, please contact us for advice.
Friday, 13 April 2012
Travel for Home-Based Business
If you are self-employed your business may well be based at your home address, although you perform the majority of your work at your customers' sites. This can apply to a range of trades from plumbers to computer consultants, and even medical professionals.
In order to claim the costs of travelling to your customers' sites against your taxable profits, you need to show that your trading activity does not cease when you arrive home. The following records should help prove this:
- Precise records of all journeys to your customers' sites, including the date, the mileage, and any public transport tickets and parking receipts.
- A diary of the time spent working on proposals, quotes and other business related paperwork at your home address.
- Business-related paperwork such as invoices and quotations should show your home address as the business base.
- Any insurance policy you need for your business should show your home address as the operational base for the business.
- Where your business is operated through a company, having the registered office for that company at the home address can also help. HMRC will be able to see these details, but you can hide them from prying eyes on the Companies House register.
You can also make a claim for the cost of running your business from home, so speak to us to see what can and cannot be claimed as a business expense.
In order to claim the costs of travelling to your customers' sites against your taxable profits, you need to show that your trading activity does not cease when you arrive home. The following records should help prove this:
- Precise records of all journeys to your customers' sites, including the date, the mileage, and any public transport tickets and parking receipts.
- A diary of the time spent working on proposals, quotes and other business related paperwork at your home address.
- Business-related paperwork such as invoices and quotations should show your home address as the business base.
- Any insurance policy you need for your business should show your home address as the operational base for the business.
- Where your business is operated through a company, having the registered office for that company at the home address can also help. HMRC will be able to see these details, but you can hide them from prying eyes on the Companies House register.
You can also make a claim for the cost of running your business from home, so speak to us to see what can and cannot be claimed as a business expense.
Thursday, 3 November 2011
Reality of Self-Employed Contracts
A recent case heard in the highest UK court (the Supreme Court) may affect whether workers are defined as employees, and hence whether they are entitled to employee rights and whether the employer has to pay them under PAYE. The case was called Autoclenz Ltd v Belcher.
Autoclenz Ltd required its workers to be self-employed contractors and issued contracts to those workers, which they were required to sign in order to be offered any further work by the company. The company provided the workers with all the tools and materials they needed, but deducted a 5% charge for use of those tools and materials from the invoices it prepared on behalf of its 'self-employed' workers.
The workers were paid so badly that they made claims to the employment tribunal to be paid the national minimum wage and holiday pay. The tribunal agreed the workers were employees in spite of the contracts they were required to sign. When the case reached the Supreme Court it found that the written contracts were a sham and did not reflect the reality of the relationship between the workers and the company.
This case shows that the definition of a sham contract is very wide. If the contract you have with your self-employed workers doesn't reflect the true agreement between you and those workers, the written contract could be ignored by the Taxman and any court.
To ensure your self-employed contractors are not treated as your employees, check that all of the following documents truly represent the reality on the ground:
- Written contract with the worker, and with any agency that provided the worker;
- Security clearance and passes (different for contractors?); and
- Health and safety instructions (who is responsible for what?).
Autoclenz Ltd required its workers to be self-employed contractors and issued contracts to those workers, which they were required to sign in order to be offered any further work by the company. The company provided the workers with all the tools and materials they needed, but deducted a 5% charge for use of those tools and materials from the invoices it prepared on behalf of its 'self-employed' workers.
The workers were paid so badly that they made claims to the employment tribunal to be paid the national minimum wage and holiday pay. The tribunal agreed the workers were employees in spite of the contracts they were required to sign. When the case reached the Supreme Court it found that the written contracts were a sham and did not reflect the reality of the relationship between the workers and the company.
This case shows that the definition of a sham contract is very wide. If the contract you have with your self-employed workers doesn't reflect the true agreement between you and those workers, the written contract could be ignored by the Taxman and any court.
To ensure your self-employed contractors are not treated as your employees, check that all of the following documents truly represent the reality on the ground:
- Written contract with the worker, and with any agency that provided the worker;
- Security clearance and passes (different for contractors?); and
- Health and safety instructions (who is responsible for what?).
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